Work slogans, whether it is for customers or employees should be memorable enough to be recalled without help. That means it needs to be short and it needs to have something catchy about it. The "catchy" element might be a rhyme, a pun, or a word substituted into a common saying. And, of course, your slogan should be meaningful.

Slogans should be well thought out and planned and should have meaning. It is sometimes better to not use a work slogan that to have poorly thought out, irrelevant slogan.

Sometimes, you can simply take a cliche for work slogans and make it mean something totally different for use as work slogans. For example:

If your company makes contact lenses: "You must be seeing things."

If your company makes high-end doors: "Show them the door."

You get the idea.

You can even take a tired cliche and turn it into something slightly different. For example, suppose your company is a contractor for information technology projects. What about "A LAN for all seasons"? Or if you run a dry cleaner/laundry: "Pressed to the nines."

OK, so maybe those aren't that great, but coming up with a great work slogan is going to involve some brainstorming. And when you do that brainstorming, whether alone or in a group, nothing is off limits. Collect all good ideas and consider them without criticism. One thought or idea could trigger other ideas.

For instance, think about some of the slogans you see that acknowledge their "badness" and run with it. www.Hulu.com (a website where you can watch television shows) uses "An Evil Plot to Destroy the World. Enjoy." Well, suppose your business makes sexy lingerie. You could use something like, "Your mother would not approve." Or if you make small vacuum cleaners for students and other dwellers of tiny apartments you could use "Our vacuums totally suck."

So what are the main things you should keep in mind when trying to come up with a company slogan?

Brainstorm and rule nothing out at first

Make the work slogans memorable

Some resources that might be handy include a rhyming dictionary and a book or website that lists cliches

Use humor when appropriate

Never forget who you're writing the slogan for, whether it's workers or customers

Give it a break if you're figuratively beating your head against the wall. You're not making progress and could be hindering the process. Take a break and come back refreshed.

Test out your slogan by means of a quick survey such as fun email surveys questions to help you get feedback before you printed it on items like stationary, t-shirts, etc.

Keep in mind, however, that slogans like these work in some industries but not in others. A funeral chapel should not have a funny slogan or humorous slogan as this would be seen as insensitive and inappropriate.

There are several things that a slogan - whether for an ad campaign or for workplace morale - should not do, regardless of the industry. It shouldn't be negative disguised with praise, as the slogan for the (now defunct) Air Europe, "Britain's second-largest international scheduled airline" did. It shouldn't be so vague as to be unmemorable. The now-unused "Rising" as the slogan for United Airlines managed to be both extremely short and hard to remember ("Flying? Ascending? Soaring? What was it, now?").

Slogans that are vague may be memorable, but there's little there to connect it to a particular brand. Does "Kid tested, mother approved" go with Life cereal, Kix, or Quaker Oatmeal? Does the slogan "No rules, just right" go with a restaurant, a car, or an action-packed movie?

Some businesses use rhymes to create good slogans. That's great if your company has a name that is easy to rhyme with. But if your company name is something complicated like Amalgamated Ergonomics, you'd be in for a bit of a challenge trying to find something to rhyme with it. And if you are going to use a rhyme in your slogan, if at all possible, it should rhyme with your company's name. Otherwise, people could easily associate it with one of your competitors.

But whether you use a rhyme, a pun, or a modified cliche or not, you should keep in mind (Yes, it's a cliche) "Sell the sizzle, not the steak." In other words, give your workers or customers something to take away. Know what sets your company apart and work with that. If you're the largest independent bookstore in your city, try to use that great selling point. If the coffee you sell is 100% pure, then use that selling point as the slogan. And if you can attach it to the word "you" or the word "your" in any way, that's a great plus because those are the two most frequently used words in slogans and with good reason.

Your work slogans should also keep in mind the milieu of your brand. If you are a clothier for older, professional women in banking, law, and other suit-wearing professions, you could imply this demographics element in your slogan, such as "Bernadette's: Style is eternal." Of course that would be totally wrong for a funky chain of second-hand stores catering to 20-year-olds.